Finally, it feels like my delay pedal search is over with the Keeley Eccos. Flanger is my favorite modulation effect and adding that to tape delay is just catnip for me. I hoped to find one delay for both guitar and synth, I’ll probably use the Eccos more for my guitar and keep the Polymoon around for synths. Maybe I’ll sell the Polymoon. But that’s not a decision I need to make right now.
Any other Eccos fans?
If you’re really bored, continue reading to hear my looooong delay journey.
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I started with the Line 6 Echo Park which I loved until it died after about 15 years. I almost exclusively used the tape variant. My only qualm was the footswitch design. Really odd. It required so much force to engage. But it sounded great.
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Once it bit the dust, I got a Boss DD-7 which was fine but not particularly inspiring. Sold it to a bandmate after about a year. I liked having a loop function.
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Next was my first dabbling with Keeley, via the Keeley Caverns. I liked the modulated reverb but not the delay side as much. It was tough to get a clear, rhythmic delay going. It felt tailor-made for shoegaze. Great for smeary echo/verb, not for pure delay. Also picked up an MXR Clone Looper because I got used to using a looper to help write melodies.
(Global pandemic hits, my delay search hits a fever pitch)
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Sold that for the Meris Polymoon, which is a lot of fun but just doesn’t seem made for guitar. A lot of the hypermodulated repeat features start to sound a little too harsh and ugly, but the phaser is incredible. I absolutely love this with my Minilogue and I assume it will work will with a DN when I get one later this year.
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Decided the Polymoon wasn’t working for guitar, so I tried the Walrus D1 Mako. I was sure this would be the one but I didn’t like it at all. For a digital delay, all the variants sounded dark and analog. Also, it didn’t double a mono signal into stereo while bypassed which was annoying. I sent this back immediately which I rarely do.
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Back to the drawing board. Next up was the Source Audio Nemesis which felt like too much of a good thing. Some of the settings were nice, a lot weren’t, and the controls never felt intuitive. I tried loading in the Binson model which produced high-pitched, ear-splitting feedback. Tried to love this but sold it.
At this point I thought maybe I would never be wowed by a delay pedal like my first one. Your first time is always special 
but then…
- In an attempt to minimalize my rig, I sold the MXR and Nemesis and sought out a dual function delay/looper. The Keeley Eccos had all the features I wanted and is compact. Within minutes of plugging in, I knew this was it. It gave me the feeling of being a teen and getting my first pedals again, which were the Boss DS-1 and the Echo Park. I think just I love tape echo and some moderate flange. That’s my sound. So inspiring and fun.